Compartment-box



W. A. CASE.

COMPARTMENT BOX. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 16. 1919.

1,385,484. Patentd July 26, 1921.

12; i [fig 4 22 i wbewto c William 19. Case. 1 fi attozmua by a vertical 5O UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VJILLIAM A. case, or PLAINFIELD, new Jan-sax, ASSIGNOR or TWO-THIRDS TO SIMON GOTTSGHALL, or NEW YOBK, N. Y., AND ONE-THIRD TO EICHENGREEN SALES CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

COMPARTMENT-BOX.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. CASE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Plaimield, in the county of Union, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Compartment- Boxes; and I do hereby declare the follow ing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to. which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to compartment boxes, and particularly to those comprising two or more partly telescoped boxes having a connection between adjacent ones to maintain them upright while swinging between a tiered position in which the superjacent box closely fits all around the other to prevent egress and ingress of the contents thereof, and a stepped position in which the interior of the subjacent box is accessible from above. Preferably the device has a vertically swinging top and one or more partly telescoped boxes on the bottom detachably held thereto by friction. Although the device is particularly adapted for vanity cases comprising separate boxes for powder, rouge, satchet, etc., or other toilet articles, it may be used for general materials where it is desired at times to compact the boxes into a tier of effectively covered compartments for transportation or storage, and at other times foruse or-display of the individual contents in stepped or detached position. In this way the device is rendered compact in tiered position, while the contents of any one or more of the boxes may be readily extracted or displayed without spilling or upsetting.

In the preferred form of construction hereinafter disclosed, each of the lower boxes carries no cover, but is so constructed and arranged as to partly telescope in tiered p0- sition with the superjacent box which then forms an effective" cover therefor, thereby simplifying, lightening and further compacting the construction.

I'prefer to form the swinging connectlon socket carried by the rim upstanding from the bottom of each box, and a pin extending into the sockets; A limited amount of vertical displacement between adjacent boxes may be provided inany suitable way, as by having a head on the pin Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 16, 1919. Serial No. 304,575.

located beyond the outer end of one extreme socket and eitherrfastened in the other extreme socket or having a second head located beyond the outer end of that other socket. By providing means tending to retain the swinging boxes in tiered or telescoped position, such as by a spring or springs of any suitable form in cooperation with the pin, the danger of inadvertently spilling the contents of the boxes in transportation is reduced.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention in application, as an example, to a vanity case having telescoped boxes and a swinging top.

Figure 1 shows a top plan view of a compartment box having two swinging boxes and one frictionally held box in tiered position; Fig.- 2 is an elevation thereof; Fig. 3 is a vertlcal section thereof; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the swinging boxes thereof in stepped position and the lowermost box detached; Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail, in side elevation, of the swinging connection between adjacent boxes showing the boxes in tiered position and partly broken away; Fig. 6 is afront elevation thereof; Fig. 7 shows the boxes vertically displaced; and Fig. 8 is a view, like Fig. 6, of three swinging boxes in tiered position with a modified form ofswinging connection.

In Figs. 1 to 7, the-uppermost box 1 has a vertically swinging top 2 fitted inside with a mirror 3 and adapted in'any suitable wayto snap or frictionally hold closed. That box, like the subjacent box 4 and the lowermost box 5, has a bottom 6 with an upstanding rim 7 the bottom in each case having a peripheral depression 8 in which fits the extreme upper part of the rim 7 of the subjacent box, the detachable boxes fitting snugly so as to hold securely by friction. In this way the device maybe compacted for transportation or storage into a tier of partly telescoped boxes with smooth exterior, wherein each superjacent box forms a tightly fitting cover as well as a compartment for any desired material or article.

Each of the swinging boxes 1 and 4 has fastened to it in vertical alinement, a socket 9 into which passes a pin 10 having a head 11 located slightly above the outer end of the upper socket. The pin 10 is fastened by the pin 12 to the lower socket, and a fiat 'spring 13 bears between the outer end of the upper socket and the head 11. In this way, the boxes 1 and 4 have a limited amount of vertical displacement relatively to each other so as to provide for moving the boxes to and from telescoped position, and the spring tends to hold them telescoped in tiered position. To swing the box 4 from the tiered position shownin Figs. 2 and 3 to the stepped position shown in Fig. 4, a slight lateral or longitudinal pressure vertically displaces the boxes 1 and 4t relatively to each other so that thereafter they swing horizontally while maintaining an upright position throughout.

' The device may, within my invention, have two or more swinging boxes, supplemented, if desired, by one or more detachable boxes. If three or more swinging boxes are provided, they may swing on a single pin, as shown in Fig. 8, to attain a circularly displaced stepped position, or adjacent boxes may swing on different pins out of alinement with each other to attain a progressively or other stepped position.

In Fig. 8, the pin 14 has two heads 15 each located slightly beyond the outer end of an extreme socket 16, and coil springs 17 resiliently hold the boxes in telescoped position but permit the necessary vertical displacement prior to swinging them to stepped position.

It will be obvious that the two swinging connections shown herein may be adapted one for the other, and that those connections and also the boxes may be variously modified within my invention, and still pro vide swinging boxes constructed and arranged tobe maintained in upright position, so as not to upset or spillthe contents, while being moved between a tiered position in which the superjacent box covers the other and a stepped position in which the interior of the subjacent box is rendered ac cessible from above.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: V

1. In a compartment box, a plurality of boxes which, in tiered position, partly telescope with each other with a close fit all around so that each superjacent box prevents egress and ingress of material of the kind specified from the subj acent box and in which, in stepped position, the interior of each subjacent box is accessible from above for filling and dispensing, a swinging connection maintaining the boxes upright while swinging between tiered and stepped positions, and a spring between adjacent boxes tending to retain the boxes in telescoped position but permitting vertical displacement therebetween.

2. In a compartment box, a'pluralit'y of boxes which, intiered position, partlyteleright while swinging between tiered and stepped positions, and a detachable box partly telescoped onto the lowermost of the swinging boxes so as to be frictionally held thereto.

3. In a compartment box, a plurality of V superposed boxes constructed and arranged to partly telescope in tiered position, a vertically disposed socket carried by each box, and a pin extending within the sockets of adjacent boxes and cooperating with the sockets to provide a limited amount of vertical displacement of adjacent boxes to engage and disengage them-in tiered position.

4. In a compartment box, a plurality of superposed boxes constructed and arranged to partly telescope in tiered position, a vertically disposed socket carried by each box, a pin extending within the sockets of adjacentboxes and constructed and arranged to limit the vertical displacement of adjacent boxes to and from telescoped position, and a spring'resiliently holding the boxes in telescoped position.

5. In a compartment box, a plurality of superposed boxes constructed and arranged to partly telescope in tiered position, a vertically disposed socket carried by each box, a pin fastened in one sleeve and having a head located beyond the outer end of the sleeve of the ad acent box, and a spring cooperative with the pin to resiliently hold the boxes in telescoped position. l

6. In a compartment box, a plurality of partly telescoped boxes constructed and arranged to swing horizontally between a tiered position in which the superjacent box covers the other and a stepped position in which the subjacent box is accessible from above, and a detachable box telescoped onto the lowermost of the swinging boxes so as to be frictionally held thereto.

In a compartment box, a plurality of partly telescoped boxes each having a bottom with an upstanding rim, a vertically swinging top over the uppermost box, a swinging connection arranged between that box and the next lower one and maintaining them upright'in their swinging movements, and a detachable box telescoped with the lowermost swinging box so as to be frictiona-lly held thereto. I c

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. WILLIAM A. CASE. 

